My big bald cypress “Old Zach”

[WNC Bonsai]

Today I finally started the carving work on my big bald cypress that I got from Zach Smith back in March 2019. I purchased it right after he dug it out of a Louisiana swamp and the photo below shows how it looked them. If I remember it was right at 36” tall. Zach held onto it and nursed it for a hear then shipped it to me in March 2020.



Right after collection in March 2019.



One year later in March 2020 before shipment to me.



Potted up in a plastic tube right after I got it again March 2020.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

Three years later June 2023 it now has its full complement of branches and is starting to ramify nicely so it is finally time to do some carving.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

I used a wax pencil to outline the area of the trunk to be carved. I decide to take the cut further down the front than the back.


Front area to be carved

 

[WNC Bonsai]

Next I used an Xacto knife to cut through the bark and cambium then peeled the bark off giving me a good outline to carve.


Front


Back

 

[WNC Bonsai]

My first carving tool is a Ryobi powered wood carver. John G told me about these but Ryobi no longer makes them, luckily I found this one on eBay. They cut through cypress wood like a hot knife through butter.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

After about an hour of carving I had removed a major amount of wood and stopped at this point to give me and the tree a rest. Next I’ll get out my Nibbler and hollow out the interior.



The long front cut.



The shorter rear cut.

 

[nuttiest]

Nice progress. So this had fully healed on top of chop in the 3 years? It looks like in last photo you can see where the chop was, is that what the outline is?

 

[WNC Bonsai]

Nice progress. So this had fully healed on top of chop in the 3 years? It looks like in last photo you can see where the chop was, is that what the outline is?

Yes, the dark brown area is the original top where it was chopped. It had rolled over nicely so I expect the sides of the newly carved area to roll over quickly too. After about 3-5 years the carved opening will likely be down to just a slit in its narrowest portions. I got a bit of it hollowed out yesterday but got chased in by a rainstorm so will have to finish today. Here is a top down shot of the top before I started carving.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

This morning we are bright and sunny so I was able to finish as much as I intend to carve this year unless K can find an extension for the Nibbler. Below are photos of the hollowed out work done with the Nibbler and a Dremel wire brush to smooth things out a bit. I am tempted to get out my small butane torch but am afraid I might burn the edges of the openIng and delay healing. Instead I will just make up a
batch of dilute India ink and try a wash to grey the wood and give it a bit of an aged look.



The deep cut on the front.



The short cut on the rear.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

Here are photos showing the full tree with the final (for now) carved hollows. This is meant to give the appearance of a tree that has either had the original crown blow away by a lighting strike, or wind damage in a hurricane.



First the front of the tree.



And as seen from the rear. Note that the cuts run diagonally across the tree partly to increase the dramatic effect amd get folks to look more closely. It also was dictated by mother nature as that’s the way to the tree grew.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

Here are the tools I used. The large blue one is the Ryobi powered wood carving tool. The upper one is of course a standard Dremel. Finally,on the upper elft is the Nibbler. This is designed specifically for carving bonsai and I ordered it from Harry Harrington’s website www.bonsai4me.com. It has 3 carbide steel cutting bits and is available in various sizes. He sells one version for Dremel tools and another for die grinders. Not cheap but well made to last a lifetime.

 

[19Mateo83]

That is one chunky cypress, awesome job carving too!

 

[namnhi]

Here are photos showing the full tree with the final (for now) carved hollows. This is meant to give the appearance of a tree that has either had the original crown blow away by a lighting strike, or wind damage in a hurricane.

View attachment 495959

First the front of the tree.

View attachment 495958

And as seen from the rear. Note that the cuts run diagonally across the tree partly to increase the dramatic effect amd get folks to look more closely. It also was dictated by mother nature as that’s the way to the tree grew.

I wouldn't miss them if you removed the two high roots on the last photo in this post. Nice tree!

 

[WNC Bonsai]

I wouldn't miss them if you removed the two high roots on the last photo in this post. Nice tree!

Yes, I have been lookong at those too. If you look right above the one on the left there is a long eliptical cut on the trunk. There was a large prop root there that looked sort of like an ankle and foot sticking out at an odd angle. I removed that last month and am waiting for it to start rolling over and healing before removing the others. I probably will do that next spring when I move it to a large 18” diameter ceramic pot I just bought June 10. I want to see the status of the roots before removing any more.

 

[snowman04]

Here are photos showing the full tree with the final (for now) carved hollows. This is meant to give the appearance of a tree that has either had the original crown blow away by a lighting strike, or wind damage in a hurricane.

View attachment 495959

First the front of the tree.

View attachment 495958

And as seen from the rear. Note that the cuts run diagonally across the tree partly to increase the dramatic effect amd get folks to look more closely. It also was dictated by mother nature as that’s the way to the tree grew.

This is quite an impressive project!

 

[Dabbler]

Kinda like mine - I like it

 

[WNC Bonsai]

I figured it was time for an update on the progress of the carving. As you can see form the photos below the tree has really made good progress on rolling over the cambium around the carved areas. It is really pronounced at the top of each cut. Also note the growth on the vertical cut I made low down to remove an ugly root that looked sort of like a big foot hanging off the side. I figure that in about 3-5 years the vertical cut will be completely healed over and the carved areas will look pretty much like a zipper that has been closed. BTW the black on the inside of the cavity is where I took a small torch to it and gave it a lighting strike appearance. OK, enough talk, here’s the photos:

 

[WNC Bonsai]

BTW, the pot is a Rob Wallace product that I picked up in June a year ago.

 

[Cajunrider]

I figured it was time for an update on the progress of the carving. As you can see form the photos below the tree has really made good progress on rolling over the cambium around the carved areas. It is really pronounced at the top of each cut. Also note the growth on the vertical cut I made low down to remove an ugly root that looked sort of like a big foot hanging off the side. I figure that in about 3-5 years the vertical cut will be completely healed over and the carved areas will look pretty much like a zipper that has been closed. BTW the black on the inside of the cavity is where I took a small torch to it and gave it a lighting strike appearance. OK, enough talk, here’s the photos:

View attachment 556813View attachment 556814View attachment 556815View attachment 556816View attachment 556817View attachment 556818

Great progression.

 

[gooeytek]

That came out really nice.